


Intersection

by TheTacticianAlchemist



Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Kakusei | Fire Emblem: Awakening
Genre: Cheating, Chrobin Week 2017, Drama & Romance, F/M, Heroes universe, M/M, Well it's technical cheating but we'll deal with that
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-15
Updated: 2017-10-19
Packaged: 2019-01-17 14:37:58
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 6,588
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12367872
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheTacticianAlchemist/pseuds/TheTacticianAlchemist
Summary: Homesick and lonely after being the only one from Ylisse summoned to another world, Robin works tirelessly for the Askr Kingdom, waiting for the day she can return home to her family. But when Chrom is finally summoned, she quickly realizes that something is wrong.[Written for Chrobin Week 2017]





	1. Heroes

**Author's Note:**

> For the love of Naga, I can't remember exactly what the conditions are for summoning--like, what time the heroes come from, if they remember what happens, etc--and I didn't find much online actually, so I just. Wrote what I thought made sense.
> 
> This is meant to be a coherent story following the prompts for Chrobin Week 2017. Who knows if I'll finish it on time. (Last year's is still unfinished.) 
> 
> I hope everyone enjoys Chrobin Week this year!

Robin rolls over in her bed, shivering slightly. Though the mattress is comfortable and the blankets are piled high, the bed is small, and the usual warmth of a body beside her is absent. She fiddles with her wedding ring, revolving it around her finger.

She sighs and rolls back toward the window. The moon shines brightly through the glass; even without a telescope she can see how the surface differs from the one that rises over Ylisse, just enough to be noticeable.

“These people need me,” she mutters. She needs to hear herself say the words again, but despite her restlessness, she’s exhausted from the day’s training to fight against Embla, and she has to force the next words to be louder. “Wait for me, Chrom.”

()()()

It’s odd, knowing that she won’t remember her time in Askr when she returns to her world. It’s also odd knowing that she’ll return to her world without any time having passed in Ylisse. The last thing she can remember is peering down into Lucina’s crib, and she longs for the day when she’ll be at her daughter’s side again; whether holding her, or fighting alongside her.

The other heroes who have been summoned speak much about their homes. They come from across different times, lands, and even worlds. During the day when she isn’t fighting, she’s absorbed in conversation. It’s at night when her worries come crashing down on her.

“You’re the only one from Ylisse,” Sharena says to her one day over lunch. The princess makes it a point to go around and visit all the heroes that she can. Her brother is much more reserved, but tends to stick to Kiran. “What’s it like there?”

“Warm,” Robin says, lowering her fork. She thinks of the field Chrom found her in. “Even the winters are mild. Cold, and a bit snowy, but nothing like Regna Ferox. The people are hardworking. Ylisstol’s pegasus riders were famous. Though…their numbers have depleted. But the fleet is still incredible.”

“It would be so cool to see them someday!” Sharena says, her eyes bright. With her blonde hair and boundless energy, she never fails to remind Robin of Lissa.

“It’s possible,” Robin says, laughing. “I’d love to show you around sometime. I’m afraid I only really know my way around Ylisstol and the castle, though. I got really acquainted with the area when I was pregnant and Libra wouldn’t let me train. I got pretty restless.”

“…Ah, that’s right.” Sharena pauses. “Do you…?” She shakes her head. “Never mind.”

A pang hits Robin’s heart. She looks down and swirls around her stew. It’s fine, but not nearly as good as the kind Stahl makes.

“…Would having someone from Ylisse come here be nice?” Sharena asks quietly.

“Kiran can’t control who comes through the portals,” Robin points out. “Other than the times of year where certain worlds are easier to open.”

Sharena giggles, hiding her mouth behind her hand. “Did I ever show you those—what did Anna call them, ‘pictures’?—of the spring festivals? Prince Chrom and Princess Lucina were wearing special outfits. They were quite adorable.”

“My baby? Anything _but_ adorable?” Robin laughs, imagining her tiny little bundle in spring-colored clothes, though she knows Sharena means the adult Lucina from another time. Then she imagines Chrom in the same gaudy outfit, and her giggles turn to snorts. “Please show them to me.”

()()()

The so-called “pictures,” which are like magic-made paintings except more lifelike as well as instantaneously produced, help ward off some of her loneliness. Looking at Chrom wearing bunny ears always makes her laugh, and seeing Lucina—not her baby, but the beautiful young woman with hair and eyes as blue as her father’s—fills her with a pride and joy that she can’t put into words. Anna gives her a discount and she buys two copies of each, keeping one pair on her bedside table and the other in her pocket, close to her heart.

Her sleep starts to come easier.

()()()

“I heard Kiran is summoning tonight,” Est says at the dinner table. Her sisters sit on either side of her; she was only recently summoned, and they were ecstatic to see her again. Though Robin can often hear them bickering from a mile away, they shared a sibling bond she couldn’t help but be envious of, as happy as she was for them. “I wanna go watch!”

“You’ll probably get in the way, knowing you,” Catria says.

“No, I won’t!”

“You won’t get in the way.” Palla sounds more like their mother than their sister. “You’re smarter than _that_. But you may end up running your mouth and annoying them.”

Est huffs. “I haven’t seen it done before. I was the last one Kiran summoned last time.”

“You should go!” Sharena says. She elbows Robin’s side. “You should come, too. As long as you’ve been here, you’ve never gone to watch.”

“I’ve been making plans for Kiran.” She doesn’t mention that the thought of going to watch a summoning would only get her hopes up, that she would only be disappointed when no one she knows would come through the portal.

“You should come.” To her surprise, it’s Catria that says this. “It’s actually pretty exciting to see who comes through. Though for some reason, poor Wrys gets pulled here a lot from all throughout his lifetime.”

“It really is random, isn’t it,” Palla says. She turns to Robin. “Come along with us. We’ll need all the help we can get to keep Est quiet through the whole thing.”

The women all look at her expectantly, and Robin can’t help but nod.

()()()

Kiran points Breidablik at the altar and squeezes the trigger. Five points of light shoot out and hang in the air, two green, two red, and one grey. Kiran aims at the grey one and shoots a shining bullet into it. Immediately, the portal opens, and the one left standing there is a green-haired man wielding a bow. He looks around, eyes narrowed, and Alfonse and Shaeena approach him before bringing him aside.

Kiran continues the ritual, taking careful aim. A small green-haired girl appears. Then, a thickly-muscled man with blond hair. Another blond-haired man wearing red, white, and blue. When each appears, Alfonse and Sharena collect them, quietly telling them that an explanation will be said once the ritual has ended.

And finally, Kiran points to the last orb of light and shoots it. A moment later, a blue-haired, sword-wielding prince stands there, the sunset light gleaming off him.

“Chrom?” Robin chokes out, watching as he’s led aside with the other newcomers and introduced to the world.

She stands stock-still, her mouth open. A good portion of the crowd, realizing that no one they know has appeared, returns to the castle. Others mill around, taking curious looks at the heroes. Robin is surrounded. She doesn’t move until Chrom glances toward them, his eyes passing by her.

“Chrom,” she says, and she weaves her way through the crowd, her eyes set straight on him, but he’s turned around again to listen to Alfonse. Alfonse gestures as if to have the group follow him—probably to their quarters, like what happened to Robin when she first came—and Sharena grins cheerfully.

“Chrom!”

The prince turns around just as Robin reaches him, flinging out her arms to embrace him. She only reaches his chest, and his warmth and his scent surround her. She could cry.

“I’ve missed you so much,” she says, her voice muffled.

He doesn’t wrap his arms around her.

He puts his hands on her shoulders. “Um… W-wait.”

She blinks, pulling back and looking up at him. “Chrom? What’s wrong?”

His gaze takes in her hair, her eyes, her coat. His mouth falls open. “…You can’t be Robin.”

“What?” She takes another step back, but grabs his left hand. She can’t feel his ring under his glove. “I am Robin. Chrom—what’s going on?”

“No, I mean—you can’t be Robin,” Chrom repeats. “The Robin I know is a man.”


	2. Training

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> short chapter and not one I'm particularly proud of but. this is what happens when you don't have time c:

The bright face of Lucina smiles up at Robin from the picture. Beside it is the other image, of Chrom in an equally festive outfit. Robin slouches on her table, leaning her head on her arms.

“These two aren’t really mine, are they?” she whispers.

A knock sounds at the door, startling her. She hurries to return the pictures to her chest pocket and rises to her feet. “It’s open,” she calls.

Kiran pokes his head through the door. “You feeling all right today? You weren’t at breakfast.”

“I slept in by accident,” she lies. She barely slept at all. “I was just going to see if there were any leftovers.”

He nods. “If you’re feeling up for it, I have a team I want you to lead through one of the stratums. Only up to four.”

Robin nods. She could handle the fourth so-called “stratum” level of Kiran’s training course in her sleep. Seeing lesser-skilled heroes through them would be easy. “I’ll meet them after I grab a bite to eat. I’ll meet them at the statue outside the front steps, then.”

“I’ll pass that along. And Robin? Try not to skip meals,” Kiran adds before ducking out.

“Talk about the pot calling the kettle black,” Robin calls after him. He laughs.

()()()

When the newbies assigned to her show up, she wants to go find Kiran and strangle him.

Chrom can’t meet her eyes and shifts his weight. Beside him stands a red-haired woman wielding a lance, and the tall green-haired archer who was summoned recently.

“You are the tactician Robin, yes?” the archer says, and his voice is surprisingly deep.

She nods, trying not to look at Chrom. “I’ll be leading your training today. I’m sure your skills are impeccable, but Kiran makes everyone go through this.”

“I won’t pass up the opportunity to get stronger,” the lancer says. She puts her hands together and bows from her waist, her back incredibly straight. “I am Hinoka of Hoshido.”

“And I am Prince Innes of Frelia,” the archer says.

Chrom clears his throat and finally lifts his eyes. “Prince Chrom of Ylisse,” he says, barely above a mutter, and her chest tightens.

“Let’s get going,” she says through her tightening throat. “The stratums are just toward the south.”

()()()

Though Robin mostly watches and directs them, by midday, exhaustion overtakes her. Her directions become snippy, her words clipped. While the three heroes take orders well—it’s not as if her strategies aren’t sound—she can see the tensing in their muscles.

She sighs. They’ve only made it through the second stratum, halfway through what Kiran wanted them to do, but she simply can’t do it anymore.

“All right,” she says when they all gather together after a battle. “I think it would be a good idea not to go too quickly on our first day out. You have my permission to go back and have lunch, and then take the rest of the day for yourselves.”

Chrom’s hand rubs along Falchion’s hilt. It’s such a familiar habit that Robin wants to cry. “…Are you sure?”

“We can still take more,” Hinoka adds, petting her pegasus’s neck.

“I must admit that I’m a bit tired myself,” Robin says, trying to play it off with a laugh. “I was up too late last night reading.”

She catches how Chrom’s brow furrows, but he says nothing.

“If you say so,” Innes says, shrugging. “I did want to talk to the other archers here.”

With that decided, Robin leads the way back to the castle. Other training groups and arena-goers are still out for the day, but several heroes are still scattered about. Hinoka heads off to the stables and Innes heads in the opposite direction toward the archery range.

And then, it is just the two of them.

“Well then, I’ll be going,” Robin says quietly after they enter the castle proper, turning toward the hallway that leads back toward her room.

“Ah, okay.” Chrom nods and stops.

She stops as well despite herself and meets his eyes. She looks away quickly. “See you,” she mutters.

She takes hurried steps away, but then, his hand is on her shoulder.

“I—wait, please.”

She bites her lip and closes her eyes. Even just the weight of his hand is so familiar, so laden with memories that she can barely stand it. “What?”

“Where…” He pulls away. “Where did you get that ring?”

Robin grabs her hand, hiding her wedding ring with her fingers. But it’s no use—he surely knows that it’s the one handed down in the Ylissean royal line. “…You,” she says at last, too afraid to look at him. “The you I know, I mean.”

Chrom is silent for a moment. Then: “I’m sorry.”

She blinks, turning toward him. Somehow he seems small, his shoulders hunched. “What for?” she blurts.

“That I’m not who you expected,” he says, like it’s the most obvious thing in the world. “And that I haven’t…been the friendliest person to you. This isn’t…what I expected, either. I apologize for how I’ve been dealing with this.”

Her expression softens. “That’s nothing to be sorry for, Chrom.”

“Still…” He shakes his head. “I would like to make things right. We are the only ones from Ylisse; there’s no reason for us to act like strangers toward each other. If…” He rubs the back of his neck. “If it’s okay with you, I wouldn’t mind taking the time to get to know each other better.”

Some sort of alarm sounds in her head. This isn’t her Chrom. This isn’t her husband, this isn’t the father of her child. _But what’s the harm?_ she thinks, unable to resist the urge to be closer to him. _We shouldn’t act like strangers._

“I would like that,” she says before she can think twice.


	3. Halloween

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *pokes my word doc* um. where's the rest of this goddamn story.
> 
> uh, unfortunately, considering the amount of work I have, I might be late for the rest of the week. sorry.

“What time are you from, exactly?” Chrom asks before chewing on his bear meat. With his mouth full—quite against the manners she knows he was taught as a child—he adds: “If we’re from different realities, we may be from different times as well.”

It’s two days later, after their training excursion into the sixth stratum. Neither have made it to the baths yet, their growling stomachs having been too loud to ignore, so they’re both covered with minor splatters of blood and lots of dirt. Only their hands are clean for their dinner.

When she tells him the last date she can remember, his eyes grow wide. He swallows. “That’s a few years in my future.”

“It is?” Robin frowns. Three years ago, the Ylissean-Plegian War was over, and she was pregnant. “Where were you when you were summoned here?”

“Ah.” His brow furrows and he looks down at his plate, moving his food around with his fork. “I killed Gangrel just days ago. In my world, I mean.”

That was when he—no, her Chrom—proposed to her. Robin plays with her wedding ring, circling it around her finger. “I remember that.”

“Did I—did your Chrom do _that_ , too?” he asks quietly. “During the war.”

She knows what he means. Not just killing Gangrel. He means nearly failing into despair at his sister’s death. Becoming mad with rage on the battlefield. “Yes.”

A sigh escapes from his nose. “I see.”

“What am I like in your world?” she blurts.

Chrom looks up, startled out of his thoughts. Which was her plan in the first place, since she can’t bear to see him upset, but not like this. “My Robin?” His mouth falls open slightly, and he scratches his cheek, looking away. “Well, for one, he’s a man… He looks a lot like you, though. It’s, uh, kind of weird.”

“I’m a man,” she says flatly, her brain unable to process that information even though that was one of the first things this Chrom said to her.

“Yeah,” he says, and a laugh escapes him. “I don’t understand why. But you two really are the same. Strategic, good with people, and you’re both pr—”

The sudden clinking of a spoon against a glass rings throughout the dining room. The two look up toward the front of the room, where Kiran stands. Alfonse, hiding his face behind his hand, sits beside him.

“I’ve had a wonderful idea for a morale-booster!” Kiran begins. He seems more excited than usual, and Robin wonders if he’s been drinking a little. “I’m going to teach you all about an Earth holiday: Halloween.”

From further down the table, Robin can hear Soren sighing: “I can’t believe the summoner is that idiot.” A quieter “Soren, please,” comes from Ike.

“Halloween is a day in the fall where people dress up as characters or monsters,” Kiran goes on. He puts a hand on his chest. “I’ll have you know that I was given an award last year for my Link cosplay. It’s all quite fun.”

Alfonse tugs on Kiran’s coat, but the summoner ignores him.

“We’ll decorate the castle with spooky and scary things. And then next week, we’ll have a costume party! It’ll be great. So be sure to make the time between training to get a costume together, okay?”

He sits down, leaving the heroes to turn to each other and chat—some excitedly, and others with sour expressions.

“Hello-een?” Chrom echoes, and Robin laughs.

()()()

Volunteers do the decorating. Robin doesn’t hesitate to sign up—and neither do a whole slew of heroes. Chrom passes by when she’s setting up fake cobwebs in a hallway, and he immediately joins her, nearly getting stuck in the web. When they put up “ghosts,” he gets tangled in the old bedsheets they’re using and almost twists his ankle.

He asks her what her costume will be. She puts her finger to her lips and winks. He looks away, flustered, and refuses to tell her his own plans. She somehow doubts he’s come up with one yet.

()()()

On the night of the party, Robin dons an outfit she made partly with magic, and partly from the sewing skills Cherche taught her. It doesn’t fit perfectly, but it’s enough: A black dress, black gloves, and a black pointed hat. She grabs a dark tome that she’s been studying from the library, putting it in a pouch at her waist to complete the look of a witch.

The party is already underway when she comes to the ballroom. The surlier heroes aren’t there, but the others are, each one of them dressed up to some degree. Camilla sports fangs and a cape; a masked-Innes is dragged along by his sister, Tana, who’s waving a sparkling scepter. A woman in a dark navy dress wearing a veil over her face walks by, and Robin blinks, wondering who she is. There are several other stereotypical “witches” and “wizards,” and Robin even sees that someone’s merely put a white sheet over themselves with holes cut out for the eyes.

“Robin! You look amazing!” Sharena says, appearing from within the crowd. She’s dressed in some odd-looking leotard with a skirt and long gloves. Her hair is tied in pigtails.

Robin frowns. “You do too, but…?”

“Kiran gave me the idea. I’m some famous sailor, or something.” She grins. “Alfonse wouldn’t do anything that looked too weird from all of Kiran’s suggestions, so he’s just wearing his regular clothes. Kiran’s in some sort of—what did he call it—a ‘tuxedo,’ with a mask. He looks really cool!”

Robin smiles. “I hope I get to see him!”

Sharena grabs her wrist. “Come on, let’s go grab something to eat. The food is really good!”

She drags her through the crowd toward the tables of food and drinks—from the looks of it, most of the refreshments are some type of wine or ale. The ghost-person is standing by the food table, their hand darting out occasionally to grab cheese or a cracker before pulling back under the sheet. Robin hides a giggle, realizing that the partygoer forgot to cut a hole for their mouth.

“Here,” Sharena says. She puts a cookie in Robin’s left hand and a small glass of wine in her other. “Enjoy!”

“I just got here, and you’re giving me booze,” Robin says, raising her eyebrow, and Sharena rolls her eyes.

“I want you to enjoy yourself and relax, for once. You’re always throwing yourself into duties and you never take a day for yourself. We all need to rest, you know.”

“…I’ll drink, so long as you don’t.” She levels a glare at Sharena. “You’re a little young, you know.”

“Not that young!” Sharena protests. But there’s a pink tinge to her cheeks. “I won’t.”

“Good,” Robin says, smiling, and takes a sip of wine. She hasn’t had a drink in a long while, and the dry taste spreads across her tongue and warms her throat. “Make sure Nino and Mist don’t get anywhere near this.”

Sharena laughs. Then someone or something catches her eye, and she smiles at Robin. “I’ll talk to you later, okay?” she says before darting off.

Robin rolls her eyes. Sharena, excitable as she is, often can’t keep to one person for very long. Robin nibbles on her cookie, keeping an eye on the crowd. Many people are complementing each other on their costumes. A string of music plays from the orchestra pit, and Azura and Shigure, from the sounds of it, are taking turns singing. An area off to the side is set up as a dancefloor, and several couples are waltzing.

She closes her eyes, and just for a moment, she can imagine that she’s in Ylisstol Castle.

When she opens her eyes, the ghost is in front of her.

She jumps, and they reach out their hand to touch her arm.

“You scared me,” she admits.

They bow their head as if in apology.

She lifts an eyebrow. “A silent ghost? No _boos_ or anything?”

They shake their head, but their body shakes slightly, like they’re holding back a laugh.

“I’ve seen a fair amount of Risen in my day, but no ghosts,” Robin says. She takes a sip of her wine. “So do you really need to eat, or do you just hoard the food under that sheet?”

The person puts their hands on their hips, and then it’s her turn to laugh. The ghost’s blue eyes shine with amusement from behind the tiny eyeholes.

She smiles, and after another sip, she asks, “Would you care to dance?”

The light in their eyes dims, and they look away. Robin silently curses herself, wondering what came over her. _Even just a friendly dance could be taken the wrong way. He knows I_ married _my Chrom, for Naga’s sake._

“I apologize,” she says quietly, just barely above the music.

“It’s all right,” Chrom says. He meets her eyes again and extends his hand. “It might have to be short, though. I don’t know how well I can dance in this sheet. I don’t want a repeat of the other day.”

She hesitates, but takes his hand, a chuckle escaping her.

Chrom does trip on his sheet, but manages not to fall only because Robin holds on tight to him. They both laugh, and don’t spend much more time dancing. Chrom drinks some wine through his eyehole and ends up spilling a bit, giving the appearance of a bloodstain.

“I did it on purpose,” he argues, but she doesn’t believe him for a second, no matter how much he tells her this over the course of the next few hours.

()()()

He escorts her back to her room once the party finishes. He refuses to take off his silly sheet, wearing it proudly. She keeps trying to slyly slip it off him, but her giggles give her away and he keeps a solid grip on his costume.

“You’re quite the cruel witch.”

“No, I’m not. Don’t lump all witches together.”

“…You’re right.”

She laughs. She feels warm, and so giddy it’s like she’s dizzy. She reaches for his hand even though it’s beneath the sheet, and he silently clasps her.

“Goodnight, Chrom,” she says when they reach her door.

Finally, he pulls his sheet off, revealing the plain tunic he was wearing underneath. It’s bizarre to see him with two sleeves. “Goodnight…Robin.”

She nods and opens her door, closing it slowly behind her, watching him. She closes it fully and stands there, blinking at the wood. Several moments pass.

_I miss you so much._

And it’s that anguish that makes her open the door and throw herself at Chrom, who hasn’t moved. She wraps her arms around him, pressing her cheek against his chest. He pulls her close and puts his hand on her jaw, guiding her face upward, and he kisses her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> by the way, this should go without saying: I don't condone Robin and Chrom's actions. they have screwed up. seriously. and I'm going to exploit this screw up because that's what I do as a writer.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I managed to write this in a couple hours of free time today??? what. how. how did this happen.
> 
> also you may ask. "but rose. there are no animals. this doesn't follow the prompt."
> 
> lies. Chrom and Robin are the animals. 
> 
> also this chapter is the biggest reason why this fic is rated M! but I tried to keep it as non-explicit as possible. (I thought about making it explicit to show the kind of thought processes that affect how they, uh, do the do, but I decided to leave that out so more people could enjoy this.)

Robin leads him into her room, tangled in his arms. She can’t figure out how they don’t fall over, trying to keep themselves from separating even an inch. She feels a warm droplet hit her cheek, and she kisses him beneath his eye. A few of her own tears follow immediately after.

“Robin,” he murmurs, and in the darkness, she can imagine that it really is _her_ Chrom holding her.

His hands are unsteady. She notices, but pretends that surely, _her_ Chrom is just nervous after having been separated from her for so long— _again_. She guides him, gently leading his touches. They find the bed and she pulls at his shirt, desperate to feel him against her skin. He hurriedly pulls off his tunic, and she runs her hands along his chest.

“Chrom,” is all she can say. “Chrom, Chrom…”

He kisses her deeply, and she can still taste the salt from their tears.

()()()

Robin wakes up tangled in her sheets. The haze of sleep hangs over her mind. Late morning light streams through the window, and she squints, silently cursing it. Her head aches slightly, and she wants nothing more than to return to sleep. She curls onto her side and closes her eyes for a few moments.

 _I’m cold_ , she realizes groggily. She sits up, and then realizes why: She’s naked.

Robin’s brow furrows, and then, immediately, icy tendrils grab her heart. She looks around the room, but there is no one else there. Her Halloween costume is folded on her desk, her hat sitting beside it. Next to it, she spots a scrap of paper.

Clutching a pillow, she shakily gets to her feet and edges over to the desk. She blinks at the note, written in familiar script:

_I’m sorry._

She backs up. Her legs hit the bed, and she sits back down, her back ramrod straight.

She turns toward her night table. The pictures of Chrom and Lucina are smiling brightly back at her.

()()()

Robin takes a bath, scrubbing every inch of her body until her skin is red. She drains the tub and starts to fill it again, not bothering to get out in between. She lays down and lets the water rise up around her, spilling into her ears. But when it starts to go over her face, she abruptly sits up, pulling her knees up to her chest and resting her head against them.

“I’m sorry.” She took her wedding ring off before getting in the bath, but now, all she wants to do is clutch it. “I’m so sorry.”

()()()

Someone knocks on her door an hour later. She looks up from where she was sitting on the floor. She can’t bear to go back to her bed. As it is, she’s already pulled the sheets from it and thrown them in the corner.

She stands up slowly, drawing her robe tight around her as if she were cold. She opens the door and peeks out.

“Robin?” Anna peers through the door too, her face ending up mere inches from Robin’s. Robin backs up a step, startled, and Anna takes the opportunity to come into the room and close the door behind her.

“Commander Anna,” Robin starts, but she doesn’t know what else to say.

For once, Anna is wearing more casual clothes and not her armor. She curiously looks around the room but doesn’t move from her spot. “Sorry to barge in. I’m just keeping track to make sure no one’s hung over or anything worse from last night.”

Robin completely forgot about the Halloween party. “I have a bit of a headache.” She isn’t lying about that, at least. “I’m just going to nibble on the food I have here and rest.”

Anna raises an eyebrow. “On a bed with no sheets?”

“…They were dirty,” she says, a bit too late.

“I’ll have someone come by, then.” Anna rolls a strand of red hair around her finger. “I’ll have them bring you a bit of extra food, too. Get some rest.”

Robin nods and says her thanks. Anna moves to leave, but then at the door, she stops and looks back.

“One last thing,” She frowns, but in a way that makes Robin think of the time she watched Chrom fell a bear, back when she first met him. He pitied the bear, but they had to eat. “Lately there have been a few…things being said about you and Chrom.”

Panic floods Robin’s blood, but she can only stand stock-still, staring at Anna. “What do you mean?” she whispers.

“Mostly it’s about how you two are not from the same reality,” Anna explains quietly. “But if word got out that Chrom was the one in the ghost costume, the one who was with you all night…”

Robin looks away, playing with her wedding ring. It is in her hands, not on her finger. “Something like that won’t happen again, Commander Anna. Trust me.”

Anna bites her lip. “You won’t hear anything from me,” she says before leaving.

()()()

Finally, after doing nothing for so long, Robin can’t do anything else but throw herself into her strategies.

()()()

Another day passes. She only knows it does because eventually she can see without the help of a candle. Someone came to give her fresh sheets, and even now, the bed remains freshly made. She only nibbles on the food brought to her.

Robin slides a note under her door. _Feeling under the weather._

When her strategies frustrate her, she reads. When the words swim before her eyes, she walks around her room. She bathes again. She puts the pictures of Chrom and Lucina in her drawer.

But she doesn’t let go of her wedding ring.

()()()

She wakes up hunched over her desk. She groans and sits up, trying to stretch out her aching back. The sky outside her window is bright and blue, and she can’t tell what time it is, or what day it is, for that matter.

The robe she’s been wearing has fallen loose, leaving her chilly. She sheds it and puts on her clothes, hiding her head in her coat hood.

It’s then that a knock sounds at her door, and shuffles on unsteady feet to open it.

Chrom stands there, his eyes red and baggy, his cheeks pale. “Robin,” he says. “…I need to talk to you.”

She wants to run away, to slam the door in his face and run away. But then she meets his gaze, and she knows that everything she’s felt, he’s been feeling, too.

Robin clamps a hand over her mouth to stifle her sobs, and tears stream from her eyes. Chrom immediately comes into the room, closing the door behind him, and embraces her. She clings to him, but not as she did the that night.


	5. Ylisse & Plegia

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> idk if I like the pacing but I do not have the time to flesh out this story to achieve that so. I'm doing my best.

“I’m sorry,” Chrom says, resting his head on hers. “I don’t know what else to say.”

“I…” She can barely speak past her sobs. “I’m s-sorry, too. We shouldn’t have…”

He holds her tighter. “No, we shouldn’t have.”

She pulls away, wiping at her tears and sniffing. Wet tracks line Chrom’s face, too. She takes his hand and, suddenly feeling unsteady, pulls him to sit on the floor. He squeezes her hand and smiles weakly. Robin lets out a small huff of laughter and shakes her head, the comfort of being with another sorry excuse for a person just barely overtaking her disgust with herself for a moment.

“How could I do that?” she whispers.

“…You were lonely,” he says. “So was I.”

“That doesn’t excuse it.” She shakes her head vehemently. “And this…this situation we’re in—that doesn’t excuse it either.”

He takes a breath. “I know.”

She stares at their interlinked hands. “I love you, Chrom. But not the kind of love that I feel for my husband. It’s just…because…”

“I know. I know exactly what you mean.”

“Do you know what the truly awful part about this is?”

He stays silent, waiting.

“We won’t remember what awful people we are when we go back,” she whispers. “We’ll forget all of this and we’ll forget that we betrayed them. What kind of wife am I? What kind of mother am I? I’ll forget that when I go back.”

“You made a mistake, Robin. People make mistakes.”

“I _can’t_ make mistakes, Chrom. That’s the thing.” She shakes her head. “People suffer for my mistakes. On the battlefield and now…”

“Robin.” He grabs her by the shoulders, looks her square in the eyes. “People make mistakes. You’re only human. If… if my Robin were in this situation, I would be hurt, but I would understand. I would forgive him. That doesn’t make it right. That doesn’t make it okay. But I would forgive him, for _this_.”

Hot tears spill over her cheeks again. She shakes her head, but there’s the slightest smile on her face. “You’re too trusting and forgiving for your own good, you know.”

“My Robin has told me much the same thing.”

“At least he’s looking out for you, too.” She laughs a little and wipes at her eyes. “I guess someone has to.”

He hesitates for a moment. “I’m glad to have you right now, you know. Despite…”

She nods. “…I am, too.”

 ()()()

Robin’s appetite returns slowly, and manages to sleep. The qualm about settling back into her bed has waned, but she spends that first hour of the night rolling around on the mattress, restless. She hesitates, but puts the wedding ring back on her finger.

()()()

 “It was kind of rough, actually,” she tells him the following day. They’ve both returned to training in the stratum, but they’re taking a midday break to eat. Chrom, Innes, and Hinoka are almost at a level where she doesn’t have to keep them from too much danger.

Chrom swallows down part of his sandwich. He looks much better than the previous day. His eyes are clear and his skin isn’t nearly as pallid. “What are you talking about?”

“Me and my Chrom,” she says quietly, so as to not be overheard. But Innes is off by the river, washing his face, and Hinoka is caring for her pegasus. “Getting together. Well, _together_ together.”

 “Oh.” His cheeks redden.

“I mean, there were problems we had.” She nibbles on her sandwich. She doesn’t know why she brought the topic up. _Maybe I just need to talk about him._ “We… definitely had feelings for each other, before the end of the war, but neither of us could admit it. He proposed to me after the war with Plegia ended, though. Right after, in fact.”

Chrom leans forward slightly. “What kind of problems, if I may ask?”

“A few…misunderstandings.” She laughs. “And after we were married, we told each other about almost every time we got jealous. He thought I spent too much time with Frederick and Stahl but didn’t want to say anything about it because he _knew_ I was just friends with them. But I saw how he looked at Olivia, and I got very…passive aggressive with him about it.”

His blush intensifies, and he scratches the back of his neck. “Oh, really?”

“I see that attraction is still there.”

“I can’t help it, Robin!”

She laughs, clutching her sides. She hasn’t laughed this hard in days. “I—oh gods, your face!”

He pouts, crossing his arms. “She’s an attractive woman. But I don’t—I couldn’t love her like I…”

“I know, I know.” She waves her hand. “I’m sorry. I won’t bring that up…for a little while.”

His pout intensifies. She wipes away a tear from her own eyes and finally manages to clam down, but a couple giggles still escape her.

“…Can I tell you something?” Chrom asks quietly.

She nods.

He takes a breath and looks down. “I’m in love with the Robin in my world. But… I haven’t approached him about it yet.”

“Emmeryn revoked the laws a long time ago,” Robin says.

Chrom nods, but he grimaces. “Yes, but…it’s not that simple. I don’t know what to say.”

“Something about how he’s the love of your life and how you couldn’t have won the war without him would be a good start,” she suggests. “Oh, and don’t forget to give him this.” She shows him the ring on her finger.

“Ha, ha,” he says, and his shoulders hunch up.

She pauses. “What’s the problem?”

He looks away. “I’m…afraid. I don’t know if he would reciprocate because…”

He runs a hand through his hair, and his other grips around empty air as if he’s trying to find something tangible. “We’re both men, you know. I don’t know. And then there’s the Plegian laws, which strictly forbid…that sort of thing. I know he doesn’t want to be tied to Plegia for the rest of his life—he tried so hard to leave—but…”

Robin stares at him.

He sighs. “It was different for you, wasn’t it? Easier. I mean—sorry. I shouldn’t say that. I’m sorry.”

Her mouth falls open.

His brow furrows. “Robin? Are you okay?”

“What did you say?” Her voice is hoarse.

“Was it easier for you and—your me? Because you’re a woman.” He’s still perplexed, as hesitant as he is to say it again. It isn’t a hard concept.

“No,” she says. “Before that.”

He frowns, trying to remember. “Robin and I are both men. Ylisse allows it, but Plegia doesn’t, so I don’t know how he feels about it. I’m too afraid to ask him.”

It flashes in her head—the memory of this Chrom telling her when he defeated Gangrel. _He’s three years behind me, but he_ just _did that. The war with Plegia was longer, then. And the me in his world…_

She blinks, and she can see the lightning magic in her hand, the way it pierces his stomach. She can see her double, the version of her who embraced Grima and set the world to ruin.

“Robin?” He grabs her shoulder again and shakes her slightly. “Are you okay?”

Robin shudders, but she can’t shake off the dread that clutches her chest. “I’m sorry,” she says, but she doesn’t know what else to say.

“Hey.” He puts his hand on her shoulder, steadying her, keeping her looking at him. “Tell me what’s wrong.”

“It’s fine,” she says. She coughs. “It’s fine. I’m just still…”

He doesn’t look convinced, but he backs down, pulling his hand away. “I’m your friend above anything else, Robin. Whether it’s my world, or here, or your world—or some other place entirely. You can tell me anything. There’s no reality where I wouldn’t try to help you.”

“I know.” And it terrifies her.


End file.
